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todd8137

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  1. todd8137
    The Moon
    hi all i hope to shoot the moon tonight with MO1 (sw12"reflector)the skies look clear here and nothing on the radar map to show rain or cloud till 04:00 so happy days a did mod the toucam to spc900nc spec. then with wccrtl i flashed to raw mode special factory settings ,so no process of the video taken by the toucam
    the spc880 flashed ect has special factory high color and brightness also a few other settings tweaked so will give them a whirl, also will try the filters out fingers crossed the count down is on
    **update
    well got out there in the end took a bit of vid but the wind was beating me in the endthe dob base needs a tighten to loose any way i got the moon and some 5 sec shots of ring neb but a think they will not amount to much
    the good thing was soon as a was ready to pack up and a saw a brightish star no its never jupiter back already ok it was around 03:30 and the light was breaking but a got some video yeah with planets over the top bright but will stitch it altogether this afternoon but jupiter she was great
    video of jupiter

    moon video
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUXR1CxFls8



  2. todd8137
    hi all just a few more pics they on photo bucket so a can keep them full size done with cannon 10D and 12 reflector cheers pat heres the link
    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/MOON%20AND%20SATURN%2012TH%20APRIL%202011/
    Theres about 93 pics please view them all and let me no what ya think and how a could improve themam obssesed with the moon at the min try in to spot all the craters mountain ranges and what ever else a can see its a pure delight dso`s are great but every one forgets about are moon
    thanks pat
    heres a link for a bit of moon drifting with the 90mm meade frac
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOzpEY-GRZA
  3. todd8137

    Not a bad night

    By todd8137,

    28th Sept
    Hi all was out last night as clear skies where on the cards,and a wanted to see what i've missed over the last few days
    Cassiopeia
    caph as 2 great cluster ngc7789,and 7790 to the left,just under them is ngc129,189,225,nery small and not very bright
    move in down to ruchbar ,is m103 not hard to miss meduim brightness,also a few small clusters 32mm/18mm ep ngc 436,457
    the last star as a few more nut did not look.just sweeping around Cas theirs loads of great star fields of all colors
    also look for the great double cluster about haf way between rachbar and mirphak for the massive great double cluster nc869 ,always a great on it massive the lowest power you have here i use a 32mm its just riht i can sweep left and riht and take all the colors in blues reds oranges whites stars of all colors.
    M33
    i did have a good look tonight but all i got was the stars i could see the spirals of stars that make this but no grey smudge at all i then had a half hour round cygnus and sagita and then got the web cam out for Jupiter at this point i was tired but the sky was so black and clear i thought i would have a go ,i got a few videos and will youtube them later i did hunt for lots mor faint clusters the 18mm antares speer walers,worked great finding these hope with have some more nights like these
    Triangulum galaxy was next
    i could not spot any smudge but the stars spiral shape s were to be seen ,its still a great site to see theres a small cluster just to its left that also looks likea spiral but small lots of people mistake that for m33
    it was a great night
    Heres the Jupiter vidoe








  4. todd8137

    More Moon pics 14/2/2011

    By todd8137,

    hi just three more pics a did the other night a used the a focal method ,and the trpiod which sounds easy but line in the thing up to the eye piece was crazy. ep was 32mm cam sony mavica and zoom was x3 ,in these pics they on photobucket here is the link if you want a look and all comments are welcome cheers pat
    clear skies always
    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/moon2/
    do not for get to clik then klik again on these pics to see full screen on photo bucket
  5. todd8137
    hi wanted to vid the moon positions ,this morning try in to get a video every day for the month if you watched the 3rd august video this one is a must as the 3 moons, io,gan,euro form a lil triangle tonight was brill was hope in,for the same tonight.but a think we all have the wet stuff today for a change
    http://www.youtube.com/user/todd8137?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/uZUsMX0z5lI
    heres the link try and sit a few feet away from the monitor for better view in and watch in HD thanks pat
  6. todd8137
    Hi to all well my order came from the states (usa)this morning after 18 days and its not the make every one is after,,and a think i ordered to much the roll is 5 meters by 650mm i did not understand there crazy website but any way it worked out at around 98 pound a was gobb smacked any way.let the panic begin the only thing i am scared to do is take in the spider out just incase a do noy get it back in the same place as it was before,s a may just flock of the tube and to the left of the ep and 2nd mirror and may baffle the foccuser as well ,i will ost the pics and my results in a bout well for as long as it takes which could be a while .........
    23:16 update
    well just come back in from the frost and packed every thing away a brought a new 20mm uw ep and never tried forgot it was in the old box,the flocking does make things better a can say that ,lat night a had a look with out it done and noted thatthings were a lot dimmer in the ep .now tonight was dif it could all be in the mind but things did look brighter a had to tweak the main mirror a litlle after a few star tests arcturus is a great target rising early now was waiting for saturn but got a bit to cold for me and was worried a bout the glue a used not setting it was 12 pound and the tube was sooooooooo small but it said let it cure for 24 hoursbut it does say -50 to +150c the hight tac floc is great a love it.i baffled the focuser as well the stuff was tricky am glad the dob was a 12" i could nrealy crawl inside which helped,after a few sheets which my daughter expertly cut the night before and they was all square as a die is straight.that along with the dew shield which is yet to arrive from FLO should be a great help i would say that the improved black tube as worked am over the moon with it and my pal said it looked great heres a few pics below well the link any way,cheers now
    pat
    http://stargazerslounge.com/album.php?albumid=940&addgroup=1#page1
  7. todd8137
    Last night and this afternoon.i got some shots of the sun,and some video of the moon and mars they are below my image voyage as begun
    i have posted the pics in all relevant threads
    webcam phillips
    10d for sun
    mars webcam
  8. todd8137

    first try at moon pics

    By todd8137,

    hi every one thought a would have a go with registax and some video it did not turn out that good this is my first go so be gentle any tips on what went wrong please thanks pat
    http://stargazerslounge.com/members/todd8137-albums-sketchs-picture8462-not-good-i-no-first-go.html
    http://stargazerslounge.com/members/todd8137-albums-sketchs-picture8463-second-go-not-goos-no.html
  9. todd8137
    Neodymium filter
    well last night i was collecting all my stuff up and was walking towards the back door i saw my neighbor come round the corner ,in is car so hurried to get to the door ,i heard a metal clang on the floor opened the door and heard a crunch, i started to check and sort my eps out no neo filter,i put the porch light on to see the filter had been run over
    gutted this is my best filter and they not cheap here`s the pic of the dead filter
  11. todd8137
    Hi all ,well a wa up till around 04:30 we had a great clear skyand high mag see in conditions set the scopes up and got the coffee on and fired it all up well for some reson the 90mm refractor just would not focus with the cameras or the web cam .a new the dob would be a challenge as the web cam makes it shoot through the screen so of a go , after 2 hours of twisting turning i headed for the kitchen to warm up and check the footage so far a new soon saturn would be high in the south eastish and would be better
    a started with eps to start with and got some great views a could see a couple a moons one to the right and one close left a thought get the web cam. well the web cam did not pick them up well in one vid may be it could be a dead paixel or just wish full thinking,any way here the link for the video a did manage to pull a few pics out some of the vids and ya cam just see some detail on saturn no cassinni doh a want to see it on vid naked eye ball at the eep cam but the low res vid cam ,can not any way what a night a loved it saturn did not disapoint one bit a hope it stays clear tonight as a no were a went wrong last night so tonight "should be a breeze",i wish
    heres the link for the vid on you tube it is long hope ya make it till the end cheers now
    pat:hello2:

  13. todd8137

    Well i never

    By todd8137,

    Hi all well last night was a great night for me .i gave the system a bit of a go and it worked .well sort of i will not go on about the settings ect as there in the dso`s forum on here i will include a few pics.
    well i started with double in Pers and i did have a few mistakes ,on i forgot to switch the pec on after training it for 8 mins forgot to hit play.
    that drama over i took 20x15 secs and moved on,they looked ok zoomed no trails
    M13 was next this was a lot easier the celestron 0.63 reducer worked well and framed it nice of course 35/40 mins would have been better but .i wanted to try a few clusters (the easy ones) a guide system would be just the job but for the time be in.i will stick and learn with what i have .the cannon 10 d is where am falling its not that great and its un moded
    so the night was clear dew was not a problem and the longest part was the darks but i did save them for next time .
    i saved all my data and can add to it later .
    its not easy i thought it would be ,but its not.
    i take my hat of to the guys who do hours of this work ,like this and there results are evident. please excuse my grammar ect
    as you can see a blind stab in the dark does work
    thanks for looking pat
    link to other pics and post
    http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-deep-sky/179970-firts-go-dso-s.html



  14. todd8137
    VICTORY



    Hi all a victory for me after about 3 months of constant complaining to my local county council daily and to the local MP and to the governments environmental agency and the mp in the house of commons who deals with this .this morning a guy knocked on my door and announced that he would paint me 4 street lights out



    and to point the ones out that caused me hassle ,after make in him and is pal a cuppa tea and got the good biscuits out for them we had a walk to the bain of my hassle.



    about a hour later he came back and asked me to take a look I include the pics at the bottom of this post



    my point is this do not give up street lights are a form of pollution and local councils by LAW have to act on this ,it is treated the same as fosil fuels and fertilizers that infect water and streams its all the same ,constant pressure on your local council should get you a result it may have cost me around 20 pound in letters and phone calls and two or 3 emails a week to the local mp and the guy in the house of commons



    ring the local council and ask them to help mine where so so but your local mp should help I even went to the local parish council and put it to them who also helped



    it cost me a few pints in the pub but they was on the case I am over the moon with thi



    still this does not make things perrrrrrrrrrfect and dark sights are still 100 times better but for at least 95% of us can not do this every session



    STREET LIGHTS = 0 PAT 4



    GREAT RESULT KEEP THE PRESSURE ON THEM



    CLEAR SKIES ALWAYS


  15. todd8137
    hi all was messing around wiyh the cannon dslr last night piggy backed it to the 90mm meade goto and did 15 x30sec subd and some darks ect deep skied them and they was not to bad a slight bit of corel paint and job done for a short session they turned out ok i think any way
    will be out tonight to capture the back end of Leo amf se what meisser list shows up on them heres a few below from last nights quickie
    here a link for my photo bucket theres 15 new ones a did last night
    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/wide%20field%20shots/
  17. todd8137

    crayford hell

    By todd8137,

    well were do a start,i decided to by a low profile crayford to better the scope and help with my pics adventure,well just put in a normal 1.25 ep in is a hassle and takes a good 5 mins to get focus because not only ,do you have to pull the ext tube all the way out,but also the 1.25:holderthat the ep sits in what a hassle the 12"dob was so easy to set up with the rack and pinion focuser.i had a long 2" skywatcher t adapter which was just to long when use in the cannon camera and ended up by in the short 2"one from flo.that was fun and games in its self but got that sorted all was fine the camera gets great focus.
    so my next headache started with the cape instrument uw80 f30mm ep , i thought this would make a great first 2"ep and after a bit of "duff advice decided to buy it for near on 55 quid, only to find out this time it can not get far enough away from the crayford even with the tube fully out, it would get focus if a held it just above the focuser so what to do ,do a by a ext ring just for one ep or by a star diagonal and use it in the 90mm meade frac ?. when a did end up getting focus it was usless the stars in the middle were fine,but round the edges rubbish the pain in side was welling up so a called it a night.a see flo do Baader T2 Extension Tube
    am not sure if these would screw on to the bottom of the 2 inch ep, to give me a bit more lenght am sure some one will put me straight ,as these ext tubes come in all lenghts but i do not think these are what they are for . (add in lenght to my 2" ep) so my troubles will end with this some day any ideas why the 2:cape will not get focus a no it needs to be longer at the bottom so it van,get further away from the low profile crayford .
    update 5th April
    hi got a 80mm exttnsion tube delivered and theres no prob at all nowthe 2"eps get perfect focus the web cam is 100 times better the cameras are fine a was gona get the 50mm one glad a did not now after get in the tape measure out and some card just to see how much travel was needed it was 53mm phew,every thing works fine now and i take back all what a said about the crayford but think befor ya buy this may be a prob for you to .........


  18. todd8137
    hi all had a great night out last night got a few pics a say a few about 300 all in all,well it started with a few day shots of the moon just to get the focus right ect and to test some day time settings worked well.a took a few moreof the moon as it got dark then decided to have a go at pleaides got a few not brill but its a start,a now no and recorded down the settings for next time m42 was the next one a got about 100 shots of this more than 4 secs with no goto is a pain.the baterries were dead from the night befor ,a must get a power tank of some sorts soon.well i put them on photo bucket and a hope ypou do not mind take in a look and maybe give in me some pointers on how to improve the obivous bein get in the goto on the meade go in would help
    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/13%20marc%20cannon%20eos%20300d%2012%20dob/
    theres the link and thanks for reading and take in and take in a look at the pics thanks pat comments are welcomed here
  19. todd8137

    What went wrong

    By todd8137,

    hi every one well a awake this morning to the neighbour knocking on the door with a smirk on is face and he said come round the back ?.when a got there the green house a converted to the obs was on is garden.it was very windy last night and it blew it on is garden i did secure it down ,but not good enough with the looks of thingsi took a few pics and today will have to get the drill and screws out she will rise again am sure just checked last nights winds and we had 45 mph gusts what a pain pics below what a job a wonder how a will get to o this on my own it should be fun and games it may force me to buy a new shed we will have to see
    pat
  20. todd8137
    Hi to all,well last night was a steep learning curve with the web cam spc900 and settings the clouds and the wind.well around 18:00 stuck the scope out side it was real clear we had are tea and went out about 19:00.as normal the clouds were back and we set the laptop and cam up.then total cloud cover till about 22:15,so back out again Polaris was the only thing a could see so I tried to get the settings some were close a was led to beleave of morgans that the web cam would act like a 15mm ep,ok no chance more like a 6mm.a barlow would have killed it all together. Any way Polaris was hard to get focus on will put the link to the rubbish effort and I then saw arcturus flashing away all colors and pointed the scope that way,the wind was blowing a tad now so things were going down hill fast but a got a few seconds worth of footage ,saturn was in and out of the clouds so a had a quick go the 12" dob is not the best scope for this but never the less I got a few secs worth
    now the settings are so important ,and I had a good play about with them the rack and pinion focuser is not worth it for this cam work I could not get the focus right most of the time a crawford is my next purchase ,the zoom on the cam settings is ok and sharpcap is great once you rember to save the settings as default ie,10fps,ect. the v lounge settings the zoom was set to 1 to start with a played about with them settings and got there in the end I liked the results all be it shaky and not in focus notes were made and next time things should go a lot quicker the hardest prob was no tracking this is a big pain with the dob and cam in general its not a prob at all but when ya try in to press buttons ect at the same time fun and games start my daughter was cold and was not interested in help at this point but all the same a had a not bad night link is here if you care to waste a couple a secs of your time
    thanks Pat

    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/?action=view&current=done.mp4
    the vid shows a random start 1st then arcturus,then saturn
  21. todd8137

    The moon

    By todd8137,

    HI all and welcome did a few pics afocal cos it was really damp out last night the link below is to the pics a was use in this a/c for my cloud pics but can stick my moon and other astro pics in it as well the weather held for a few hoursand a ussed a iso of about 600 and set to infinity with about a 1/30 sec time with tripod and cam up to the eye piece they not brill but could ya let me no what ya think if ya get the time cheers pat
    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/moon/
  22. todd8137

    mini star get together

    By todd8137,

    hi every one had a great night tonight just finished cleaning the scope and eps had a friend of sgl john and is lad Connor at my place tonight they brought there scope and a set 12" dob up, we aligned johns finder scope up on is 4 inch newt,and had a quick tour .of the moon filters were the best help we had the moon was so bright and full ptlemaeus.alphonus and arzachel were the first things to show john and Connor .who a will call from now jc mare humoron was the next,mare fecunditatis with the messier pair were another high point .
    next was Orion for a quick look at that to show jc with and with out OIII ngc 1981 open cluster was nice and the great Orion neb was its normal self we then looked at Taurus and its doubles we saw lots the best were, tau 80,81,85,75.
    Pleiades was next all 7 main stars were on view and a few more hard to spot doubles some were so small also ngc752 great open cluster was cool to say the least. Cassiopeia ngc436,457,663 were brightest double cluster am going to make a point one night to just search for double cluster and tease out there fine details am still gob smacked every time a see one. and we did have a look for a few more things crab neb be in one, no chance same for m33 .it got to about 23:00 hrs and i could not feel my finger, Connor had retired to the house with my daughter froze solid a hour before . what a great night and to share it with john and Connor who can now point out and look for more things we all had another night of first a still get that tingle when a see the scope on the garden and a book circled with targets for the night also the moon still as many things a want to see o even the Apollo 16 landing site ,was seen we even got some pics well john did so i can not wait to see how they turned out and will link the,to this post.
    thanks pat
  23. todd8137
    hi all ,well last night thought a would take a few long expo`s of polaris to try and get a good star trail pic ,but to my supprise they turned out better than a thoght .for one they did not trail ok the time was about 2 mins not much of a chance there then,but i did get some good shots a will put the pics up in a minute on photo bucket the link will be there shortly ,apart from them all be in orange! any way i ordered a lpf filter,and it came this morning so a will try that a read alot about these type of filters and every one as diffrent skies so it was hard to judge so i went for the 2" sized one can not comment on how well it works as it only came this morning.any way
    back to the pics,i took about 30 /40 altogether of polaris some good some bad tried dif settings to see what results a would getand the best was 1.35 mins and that gave the best out come to the picstonight a will do some more of the same and test the lpf out and get the pics to see the difference cheers pat enjoy they not so bad pics all were taken at
    Cannon d10 ,12"skyliner
    iso 200
    bulb setting 1.35 sec , x10 subs
    awb on
    4 mins between each shot just to cool down
    no filter
    heres the link
    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/20tth%20april%20polaris/
    also a stuck the pic of the skywatcher lpf will try that in a bit,the other pic is a result of a drop so beware
  24. todd8137
    Hi all
    well the telrad came today from rother valley optics i ordered it on the 31st dec to beat the extra vat ,back then it was £39.00 delivered they e mailed me the same day to say that it would not be back in stock till the 11 jan 2011 and did a want a refund i said no i will wait they rang me on the 10 jan to tell me my order would be sent out on the 11th jan and it arrived this morning the advantage to this for me will be the image the right way up, whist looking for targets has for as for a newcomer this can be hard to get to grips with imho lol thats still hard to get the brain round but this will sort that out a seen one a mate had and it made star hopping easy the sevice of rother valley optics was first class and would order with no probs again
    pat
  25. todd8137
    HI to every one well tonight was another great night 9 1 2011,set the dob up around 17:30 and there was a little cloud,tea in hand at around 18:20 a took my first look of the night jupiter was in a clear part
    Jupiter
    this was a great view tonight with the 10mm ep i could see 3 clear bands and all 4 moons with no trouble drew a pic which a will post to my pics after a while a put a blue filter 82a in and one of the the bands about a quarter of the way from the bottom really caught my eye this time i then drew a quick sketch and moved on
    Orion
    i waited about 19:20 to view this again i looked at the great neb and m43 drew a quick pic i had a great view the dust and gas was really bright i hd no probs pic in 4 stars out in the centre that were in a little group,above that was a group of 3 almost in a line around the edges of the great neb there was lots of stars,at around 23:40 i looked again this time with 0III filter and orion was high in the south i could see even more detail in the great neb and m43 with all its trapezium was easy to spot and all its doubles a wish a had more knowledge to tell you about the rest but that will come with time also there ws a bout 5 shootin stars just to the left of orion which made me jump more than once
    Taurus
    at around 12:00 i spun to aldebaran which was a orange/red color tauri the doubles were visible to my eye they were great lots of groups around them as well m1 was not there or a missed it the doubles if never seen before were just thing a did not expect at all the amount of stars around the double was crazy
    Pleiades
    m45 was easy 5 stars visible with the naked eye with 20mm ep a could look around and see lots with in this group the 7 sisters were easy to spot it was all the little ones in and amongst this lot that was great for me and try in to spot them
    AURIGA
    capella was nice but for just above elnath were a double and a few other little stars
    i did have a look for Andromeda m31 but yet again my lack of knowledge let me down again ursa major mizar and alcor were good i found it east to separate them m97 was not to be seen at all not even a smudge no m81/82 either but plenty of doubles just above were they should have been use indubhe as a pointer up were lots of doubles a very frosty and cold night and a was freeze in at the end a came in the house wiped the dob dry put every thing a way and went to bed very happy
    thanks pat
    ps my lack of knowledge as let me down the things a seen tonight would have made a man weep home work is the key for me
    links of what a seen on star maps

    i have no removed the drawings thanks pat

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